February 1, 2012 - On Monday, Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.), along with 44 co-sponsors, introduced a bill (S 2041) that would grant Congress the authority to approve the Keystone pipeline. President Obama has already said no to granting approval for the construction project, an outcome accelerated by language in the pay-roll tax law that required Obama to make a decision by late February. Construction of the pipeline that would span from Alberta, Canada to the Gulf of Mexico is supported by the American Petroleum Institute, the Association of Oil Pipe Lines, the Consumer Energy Alliance, the Independent Petroleum Association of America, the Industrial Energy Consumers of America, and the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association.

Below is an analysis conducted by MapLight of campaign contributions to senators from individuals and organizations connected to the Oil & Gas industry, made between July 1, 2005 and June 30, 2011.

Out of the 36 senators who have the Oil & Gas Industry amongst their top 10 contributing industry groups, only five senators did not co-sponsor the bill.

Nineteen of the top 20 recipients of campaign contributions connected to the Oil & Gas industry co-sponsored the bill, the lone exception being Mary Landrieu (D-La.), who received a total of $424,700 from Oil & Gas interests.

Rank of Oil & Gas Industry as a Contributor to Lawmaker

Lawmaker

Bill Co-sponsor

Total (7/1/2005 – 6/30/2011)

1

Sen. James Inhofe [R, OK]

Yes

$472,000

Sen. John Hoeven [R, ND]

Yes

$251,789

2

Sen. John Cornyn [R, TX]

Yes

$1,000,725

Sen. David Vitter [R, LA]

Yes

$536,000

Sen. Roger Wicker [R, MS]

Yes

$362,500

Sen. John Barrasso [R, WY]

Yes

$347,650

Sen. Kay Hutchison [R, TX]

Yes

$336,386

Sen. Thomas Coburn [R, OK]

Yes

$184,650

Sen. James Risch [R, ID]

Yes

$83,550

3

Sen. Mary Landrieu [D, LA]

No

$424,700

Sen. Lisa Murkowski [R, AK]

Yes

$314,526

4

Sen. Mark Begich [D, AK]

No

$145,405

Sen. Michael Enzi [R, WY]

Yes

$125,300

5

Sen. Pat Roberts [R, KS]

Yes

$229,200

Sen. John Boozman [R, AR]

Yes

$117,602

Sen. Jeff Bingaman [D, NM]

No

$98,920

6

Sen. Roy Blunt [R, MO]

Yes

$529,850

Sen. Jerry Moran [R, KS]

Yes

$215,051

Sen. Lamar Alexander [R, TN]

Yes

$156,050

Sen. Daniel Coats [R, IN]

Yes

$147,183

7

Sen. Kelly Ayotte [R, NH]

Yes

$127,783

Sen. Joe Manchin [D, WV]

Yes

$122,700

Sen. Thad Cochran [R, MS]

Yes

$81,550

Sen. Mike Lee [R, UT]

Yes

$45,050

8

Sen. Patrick Toomey [R, PA]

Yes

$263,516

Sen. Mark Pryor [D, AR]

No

$144,650

9

Sen. Mitch McConnell [R, KY]

Yes

$528,500

Sen. Jeff Sessions [R, AL]

Yes

$104,700

Sen. Rand Paul [R, KY]

Yes

$102,940

10

Sen. Bob Corker [R, TN]

Yes

$339,250

Sen. Robert Portman [R, OH]

Yes

$295,758

Sen. Richard Burr [R, NC]

Yes

$224,600

Sen. Marco Rubio [R, FL]

Yes

$200,750

Sen. Ben Nelson [D, NE]

No

$193,550

Sen. John Thune [R, SD]

Yes

$176,990

Sen. Jim DeMint [R, SC]

Yes

$134,073

Click here to download a spreadsheet with contributions from Oil & Gas to all current members of the Senate (July 1, 2005 - June 30, 2011) and the House of Representatives (July 1, 2009 - June 30, 2011). The spreadsheet also includes contributions connected to Environmental protection interest groups.

METHODOLOGY: MapLight analysis of campaign contributions to current members of the U.S. Senate from organizations and individuals connected to the Oil & Gas industry, July 1, 2005 - June 30, 2011. Campaign contributions data source: OpenSecrets.org

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About our data

Read the details about our data sources and methodology. Data refers to direct contributions to the campaign committees of elected legislators. For example, contribution totals exclude contributions to party committees such as the RNC or the DNC and exclude contributions made to individuals that did not win their election.

For U.S. Congress, contributions data provided by the Center for Responsive Politics (OpenSecrets.org) and legislative data provided by GovTrack.us.

California contributions data provided by the National Institute on Money in State Politics (FollowTheMoney.org).